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The Kochs fight back

A new media consultant who worked on the McCain campaign, Soren Dayton, was hired last year to handle corporate issues, while Julie Soderlund, a veteran California GOP operative who worked for Schwarzenegger and the failed California GOP Senate campaign of Carly Fiorina, was retained last week to help with an anticipated barrage of media scrutiny of the conference and the protests, which never quite materialized.

A few days before Bonjean signed his contract with the Kochs, he posted an item on POLITICO’s Arena attacking a New Yorker article linking the Kochs’ political philanthropy to their business interests as “a hit piece without balance designed as a foundation for the professional left-wing community to launch its attacks.”

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Bonjean’s post, which made no mention of any affiliation or potential affiliation with the Kochs, asserted “the Koch brothers have lived the essence of the American Dream by building up its family-owned businesses that now employ thousands of hardworking Americans.”

Bonjean, Goldfarb and Soderlund traveled to Rancho Mirage, where Goldfarb and Soderlund moved mostly unnoticed through the crowd of protesters Sunday, and could be seen talking to representatives from the relatively few media outlets on the scene. Though they were not quoted in stories, much of the national coverage of the conclave counterbalanced the protesters’ charges either by quoting past meeting attendees defending the conference as an exchange of policy ideas, or by noting that major liberal donors like billionaire financier George Soros attend similar meetings to dole out funds – and that, in fact, Common Cause has received funding from Soros.

Longtime Koch hand Nancy Pfotenhauer, who also was an adviser to the McCain campaign, issued carefully worded statements to the Los Angeles Times (meeting attendees are “some of America’s greatest philanthropists and job creators … who share a common belief that the current level of government spending in our nation is simply unsustainable”), MSNBC.com (the goal is “to discuss solutions to our most pressing issues and strategies to promote policies that will help grow our economy, foster free enterprise and create American jobs”) and other outlets.

Other high-profile Koch backers went on the attack against the protesters and the media, alleging that the occasionally vituperative rhetoric among Sunday’s crowd would have drawn sweeping media condemnation had they occurred at tea party rallies, which liberals alleged were rife with widespread extremist, homophobic and racist rhetoric.

During Sunday’s demonstration, Koch and resort security discouraged curious donors from leaving the resort buildings to watch protesters from the grounds, though a photo posted on a Common Cause blog with the headline “We got their attention” appears to show David Koch watching the protest from a resort balcony. And other participants watched from a patio behind a heavily guarded gate, as protesters pressed toward baton-wielding sheriff’s deputies in riot helmets guarding the entrance, waving signs reading “Koch Kills” and “Uncloak the Kochs,” and chanting “David and Charles Koch: Your corporate greed is making us broke.”

“It’s always disappointing to see these really vitriolic personal attacks in America from the left, and you saw it out there,” Tim Phillips, president of Americans for Prosperity, and an attendee at the conference, told POLITICO in a telephone interview during a break between conference sessions Monday.

Holy smokes! If Politico as a news organization & aggregator carried mis-information from a "prank" press release on a major national brand such as GE for example, it could and should be sued.

Consumer confidence, stock pricing and supplier chain agreements are 3 little factors that come immediately to mind as being jeopardized by such a 'prank.' And btw, putting up a false web site proves that this wasn't a spontaneous prank but an attempt to illegally undermine a business entity.

Issuance of false information via identity theft is one of the few crimes that I'd expect Politico to take a stand on - even if the victim's politics don't align with those of Politico's editors.

Shame on Kenneth Vogel and Politico for trivializing this crime. Makes me wonder if accuracy matters at all to them.

What about George Soros? Have you sent any reporters to uncover any of his sinister goings on? I doubt it. Politico is down with anything that uplifts the Dem/Lib/Progressives and anything that demeans, smears and suppresses conservatives! You used to be a news site, now your just a bunch of liberal political hacks

I have a quesstion, how many people do you think have jobs because of those evil wealthy people? I mean I know they just pile all that money up in a room so they can take their clothes off and roll in it, or at least that is what liberals seem to think. Maybe some of them are not nice people, but if they employ thousands of people to make all that filty money it seems to not be an all bad situation. I know a lot of poor people employ thousands of people to distribute our tax dollars to them, but somehow I don't think it is the same.

After all this transparency the Governement has been giving us.... (or what they allow us to see)

A pattern is there. Our Governement is Corupt! it doesnt matter what side of the fence they're on. They're all evil, liar's, theives

I can not believe that George Bush and His Father caused this war, killed 3,000 thousand Americans, then blamed it on the Muslims.

Im sick to my stomach over this.

We need a New Governement.. These people are trying to convert the United States into a Communist Nation..

If we allow these people to continue on their path, there will not be a Constittution, Our Governement is ripping our Country Apart... Using terrorist to scare us.

You know how I know we werent attacked by muslims..

BECAUSE OUR GOVERNEMENT IS NOT SECURING OUR BOARDERS.

You can not actually believe that we were bombed, 3,000 thousand Americans died, and "if" we were really attacked by forigners .. our borders would have been the first to be secured.

Instead, they are tracking our spending habits, increasing taxes on us, reading our emails, tapping our phones, the governement has x-ray trucks that drive by homes that see through your home, trying to strip away our 2nd amendment, the right to bare arms, shaking us down at the airports to see if we are moving money out of the country.. Oh' Do you really think the xray machines are designed to pick out weapons... No, the Governement wants to know whats in your back pocket.. they want to know if you are moving money out of the country, because they want it.

This is not all in the name of safty.. and stopping terrorist.

This is the Governement intruding in our lives. Telling you that YOU DO NOT HAVE CONTOL OF YOUR LIFE ANYMORE... THEY OWN YOU!

I'd like someone to list all of the Koch Bros.business entities. I'm sure it's available. This being a country whose people cherish free speech and demend choices the list would be helpful in each of us deciding to do business with a privately held, family owned business which no doubt has contracts with our government. The Koch Bros. already are receiving corporate welfare in the form of subsidies. These 2 bros. inherited every dime and opportunity in their lifetime. Now because they have the spotrlight shone upon them they fret over the results. Campaign financing is the foundation of a necessary reform in politics.

I would not be so bold as to try to put these 2 out of business. I just want everyone to know that these 2 bros. are behind an interest group and/or groups that undermine open government . Certainly, unions fall into that category. George Soros has publicly made his position known...he doesn't hide his views and engages with the press on those positions. Where is a public interview with David Koch? The whole point of this story is to show the extent that these 2 guys are willing to go to hide. As our beloved conservatives would put it What do you have to hide?

I worked for the State of Kansas in the early 1990s. The Koch heads owed the state millions but no one in the bureaucracy would dare go after the Koch heads to recover these monies. Politicians in the State were/are afraid to take on the Wichita gang. Funny that Mr. Goldfarb is now on the payroll for the Koch heads considering their financing of the jew hating push polls funded by their front group Triad against Jill Docking's race with Sam Brownback.

The Koch brothers are not elected officials. As long as they don't break the law they don't have to answer to anyone but their stockholders. I am sure if they were violating any laws with their donations and support the DOJ would be all over them.

All the conservatives defending these brothers in their attempts to strangle our country as we know it with their money. You have no idea how toxic these men are and how removed from everyday life they continue to be sitting in their glass towers.

These guys have created a disaster here Wake County, NC by bankrolling the takeover of our school board and ending diversity in our schools. We have become the laughing stock of the nation and our once strong and proud school district in going straight down the tubes.

Citizens United is a scam organization put together to push conservative change around the nation. They have infiltrated our schools. These guys are rich power players who want the rich to rule in the way they think best. They will sue you or try to have you arrested if you try and get too close to report on what they truly represent.

These brothers are a threat to our country IMHO. They show that money is indeed power.

– Koch’s John Zink Company subsidiary laid off 63 people in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

– Koch’s Georgia Pacific subsidiary laid off 118 people at its Roxboro, North Carolina plant.

– Koch laid off 50 people at its INVISTA plant in Wilmington, Delaware.

– Koch’s Georgia Pacific subsidiary laid off 158 people at a paper-making plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Most of the jobs have been replaced with automated machines.

– Koch’s INVISTA subsidiary laid off 50 people at its plant in Athens, Georgia.

– Koch laid off 150 people at its headquarters in Wichita, Kansas.

– Koch laid off 500 people at its Seaford, Delaware INVISTA plant.

– Koch laid off 400 people in its Waynesboro, Indiana INVISTA plant. As one of the primary employers in the city, the layoffs were expected to have serious ripple effects. City officials said layoffs at Invista will “force cuts across Waynesboro.” “The rest of the community, this will probably instill a bit of a wake-up call and they will cut back also,” predicted Waynesboro Vice Mayor Frank Lucente.

– Koch laid off 320 people at its Georgia Pacific plywood plant in Cleveland, Texas.

– Koch laid off 60 people at its INVISTA plant in Victoria, Texas.

– Koch laid off 169 people from its Flint Hills Resources plant in Odessa, Texas.

– Koch laid off 300 people at its Georgia Pacific plant in Monroeville, Alabama.

– Koch’s John Zink Company subsidiary laid off 63 people in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

– Koch’s Georgia Pacific subsidiary laid off 118 people at its Roxboro, North Carolina plant.

– Koch laid off 50 people at its INVISTA plant in Wilmington, Delaware.

– Koch’s Georgia Pacific subsidiary laid off 158 people at a paper-making plant in Green Bay, Wisconsin. Most of the jobs have been replaced with automated machines.

– Koch’s INVISTA subsidiary laid off 50 people at its plant in Athens, Georgia.

– Koch laid off 150 people at its headquarters in Wichita, Kansas.

– Koch laid off 500 people at its Seaford, Delaware INVISTA plant.

– Koch laid off 400 people in its Waynesboro, Indiana INVISTA plant. As one of the primary employers in the city, the layoffs were expected to have serious ripple effects. City officials said layoffs at Invista will “force cuts across Waynesboro.” “The rest of the community, this will probably instill a bit of a wake-up call and they will cut back also,” predicted Waynesboro Vice Mayor Frank Lucente.

– Koch laid off 320 people at its Georgia Pacific plywood plant in Cleveland, Texas.

– Koch laid off 60 people at its INVISTA plant in Victoria, Texas.

– Koch laid off 169 people from its Flint Hills Resources plant in Odessa, Texas.

– Koch laid off 300 people at its Georgia Pacific plant in Monroeville, Alabama.

Looks like the Koch's minions are out early to defend the brothers. The rally in Rancho Mirage is just the beginning. I see a lot of press coverage, a lot of rallies, and a lot of consumer boycotts in the future.

Look, if the Koch Brothers really want to save America from deficit financing, they have to control health care costs and get us out of the war which is wasting our tax payer dollars in other countries. Turns out the best way to control health care costs and get better bang for your buck is single payer health care. The best way to cut defense spending is to get us out of Iraq and Afghanistan and invest those dollars in America on jobs and infrastructure.

If the Koch Brothers are serious about saving America and do the above, I am all for them.

Looks like the Koch's minions are out early to defend the brothers. The rally in Rancho Mirage is just the beginning. I see a lot of press coverage, a lot of rallies, and a lot of consumer boycotts in the future.

Democrats – led by Obama, his political advisor David Axelrod and Rep. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.) – singled out political spending by non-profit groups funded by the Koch brothers, namely Americans for Prosperity, as a campaign issue.

Google Democracy Alliance. They met in secrecy last November, in D.C., just after the November 2 elections. On the Board of the Alliance, Robert McKay, Chairman and board member of Salon, and Mother Jones. Anna Burger, Sec/Treas. SEIU. Drummond Pike, Tides Network. John Stocks, Director, NEA. And........

www.democracyalliance.org/leadership

Michael Vachon. Michael Vachon has extensive experience in politics, communications, and philanthropy. He currently serves as George Soros' political director. He advises Mr. Soros and the Soros family on political contributions and maintains contact on their behalf with the individuals and organizations they support. Mr. Vachon also manages Mr. Soros' media relations, public appearances, and publishing activities and serves as the spokesman for the Soros family and for Soros Fund Management (SFM). Prior to joining SFM, he was head of public affairs and a member of the executive committee of The Commonwealth Fund. Before that he was director of communications at the Open Society Institute.

These fat cats, and the attendees, are major fat cat donors to liberal/progressive causes.

www.cjr.org/campaign_desk/covering_the_dem_big_donor_hud.php

Where was the coverage? Where is the outrage?

Soro's and his shadowy organizations have donated tens of millions to groups and media sites like ThinkProgress, mediamatters, NPR, and a multitude of others. All designed to craft public opinion. And Politico spends this time with the Koch Brothers?

George Soros has publicly made his position known...he doesn't hide his views and engages with the press on those positions. Where is a public interview with David Koch? The whole point of this story is to show the extent that these 2 guys are willing to go to hide. As our beloved conservatives would put it What do you have to hide?

Exactly! They have their agenda to hide. Some conservatives are just gullible enough to be snowed by all that money and power. They have no idea what these guys really stand for b/c they won't make it known. This seems to be typical of some conservatives. Certainly those conservatives that hide behind Fox News, Facebook, tweets and the like.

This country is supposed to be about people being involved. We are supposed to want to interact with our elected officials and have our voices heard. But now there's violent rhetoric which will make that harder to do and these guys who try and arrest folks or put them out of business when they disagree.